Italian general election, 1955

The Italian general election, 1955 was held from 1 July 1954 to 1 January 1955, when the people of Italy elected a new President. The Italian Socialist Party and Italian Communist Party swept the election, winning with 45% of the vote. This was the first general election held since the creation of the Italian republic in which the leftist coalition emerged victorious, ousting Christian Democracy from power.

History
In 1955, new elections were held in Italy to elect a new president, with the two most competent parties being the incumbent Christian Democracy party and the rival Italian Socialist Party. On 3 July 1955, riots broke out in Rome as people clamored for change, and political debates heated the tensions. Many questioned the country's view on religion, and many people clamored for secularism instead of Christian moralism. In terms of unemployment, the Italian Liberal Party did the most to campaign for employment, awakening many Italian people to their cause. However, the Socialist Party gained popularity for advocating the nationalization of a troubled mine, and pacifist preachers also mustered support for the Socialists. The Socialists gained more support after the government passed social justice reform in the criminology laws. The Italian Social Movement gained some support amidst a surge of populism, but they failed to capitalize on the topic of protectionism; the Socialist Party sided with entrepreneurs who opposed foreign goods being sold on the Italian market.

The Socialist Party, having campaigned extensively in northern Italy and Lazio, held the vast majority of votes in those two regions, as well as a slight majority of votes in every other region of the mainland (apart from South Tyrol). The Christian Democrats remained popular among conservative voters in South Tyrol and Sardinia, where the ethnic minorities voted to remain under a decentralized government. The Socialist Party and Italian Communist Party won a majority of votes, winning 45% of the vote in the election. The Popular Democratic Front of Italy won the election for the first time in history, and Italy would go on to be ruled by a socialist government.

Aftermath
The new socialist government of Italy inherited a struggling economy that was marked by high taxes, low government expenditure, and crippling debt. The PSI would support disenfranchised people through mandatory voting, earning popular support, and it also oversaw significant tax cuts for the middle and lower classes after raising tariffs (which they were able to do because of their protectionist beliefs), as well as (eventually) increased government spending on education and administration. The PSI would remain very popular, especially in northern Italy and Lazio, and it would go on to win re-election in the Italian general election, 1959.

Results

 * Christian Democracy of Italy.png Christian Democracy - 28.46%
 * PLI.png Italian Liberal Party - 7.36%
 * PSI.png Italian Socialist Party - 40.48%
 * PSDI.png Italian Democratic Socialist Party - 6.16%
 * Italian Social Movement.png Italian Social Movement - 7.43%
 * Monarchist National Party.png Monarchist National Party - 5.58%
 * PCI.png Italian Communist Party - 4.51%